Wednesday, October 20, 2010

At the risk of seeming very, very one note, I have decided to show you one more Halloween wreath. I considered waiting. Giving you a few different tutorials. Then busting this one out in maybe a week. But then I realized that probably wouldn’t fool anyone. You’d still be thinking, “my gosh, how many doors does this chick HAVE??” OR, “can she make anything but wreaths?” Then I thought maybe I would fool you if I made it seem very purposeful. “I’ve declared this week Halloween Wreath Week!” But I only made two, and I don’t want to make anymore. So that wouldn’t be much of a “week long event.” What I’m trying to say here is that I made another Halloween wreath, gave it to my mom because I only have one door and it seemed like her style and then I wanted to make sure to blog about it in time to get it up on the CSI project’s Halloween Extravaganza. There. I said it. Now you know my hidden motives. It’s all out on the table. I hope that you’ll come back even if wreaths aren’t your thing, because I swear I do other stuff too. (Remember that DIY stained glass fixation??)

But, really, when my mom and I started this project I didn’t realized it was going to turn into a wreath. I has seen some “Jumbo Candy Corn” floating around blogland (and if it was your project, please tell me so I can link to you and give you some credit. For the life of me I can’t remember where I saw this original idea.) Anyway, the original idea was to cut styrofoam cones into a candy corn shape, slather it up good with plaster, paint it, and stick them out on a shelf for some cute CUTE Halloween decor. I loved it so much and thought it seemed so easy I really wanted to try it. But with a twist.

First, you’ll need to shape your cones into candy corn. I used a steak knife and it worked fine. It will, however, be a huge mess, so you should probably do it outside instead of at your kitchen table. Oops.

Cut both sides from tip to base to make the sides flat.

Then go around all the edges and

flatten out the tip as well.

See the difference?

Next, use spackle or drywall mud to slather all over it. (the original project used craft plaster, which I’ve never used before. I didn’t want to go buy something just for this one project, since I’m STILL trying to bust my stash. So I used what I had on hand.) It worked pretty well, but again, a HUGE MESS.

Let them dry over night.

Sand them down. I discovered that it really didn’t matter one iota what they looked like when I first spackled them. Sanding worked MAGIC. See?

Really rough and gross.

Nice and smoooooth.

Oh, and guess what? Sanding them is a big mess. So, if you love messy crafts (which, I’ve admitted before, I think is half the fun) you are gonna love this one.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

please excuse the gross leggings. My mom took this on the sly because she thought I looked OH SO HILARIOUS. And yes, that is spackle dust on my face, thank you very much.

After you’ve sanded them and whipped the dust away, paint them up like candy corn.

They’re pretty cute! But just wait. It gets cuter.

Now, you need to assemble a wreath base out of on-hand items. I used a metal ring that, well, I have no idea what it’s really for. Some kind of embroidery something? Fact is, I bought a gazillion of these years and years ago for a craft with some girls at church and we never did it. So I’ve been saving them up for something good. I also used large gauge craft wire.

The base is two concentric circles - freestanding. No need to connect them in any way.

So.

First, take your craft wire and bend it into the right sized circle. (I used this for the larger of the two circles.) I cut several wires the right length and then just twisted them around each other to make it thick. Then I twisted the ends of the wires together to form the circle.

Grab your strange metal ring thing.

Spray them both black. ( I know this picture shows three circles. I only ended up using two - I did NOT use that teeny tiny one you see there).

Lay your candy corns out on the table in the correct placement, with the front sides facing down.

When you get them how you want them, lay your smaller circle on top, centered as much as possible, and mark with a pencil REALLY LIGHTLY where it lays.

Then, slather on some hot glue and lay your small circle on top. (I did half at a time).

Hold it down until it’s kind of dry, then go around with your glue gun and squeeze some glue from the candy corn up and around the circle, so you cover the circle with glue.

Do this same thing to the larger circle.

Cut a long trapezoid out of very stiff felt. (You know, that felt that’s more like chipboard or plastic than felt? But it’s still fuzzy and felty? Do they still make that stuff?) Anyway, I thought I wasn’t going to have enough felt to make long trapezoids, so I made two small trapezoids per candy corn. You can just use one piece per candy corn though, if you have enough.

Spread glue all over a piece of felt,

and lay down over the wire circle, so the circle is sandwiched between the candy corn and the felt.

Do this for each candy corn.

It plays double duty. One, it gives it a little more security. Two, it looks better than a big mess of glue. I know, who’s going to see the back anyway? Well, I will. And I like a neater look.

When that’s all done, flip it over.

Tie a ribbon in a bow.

Slip it around the large wire circle and pull the end through the loop.

Take it over to your mom’s, who will most assuredly get very excited and take her skeleton down to replace it with the candy corn wreath.

Even your dad will say it’s super cute, which is pretty incredible.

I think it looks like a sunburst mirror. Which makes me love it even more.

Oh wow - what a truly FUN project! I love the vibrant feel of it, and you deserve some major kudos for all of your hard work! I redid our master bath a couple of years ago, so I know well what a mess drywall mud can be. :)

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What a great idea, I love it, it's so stinking cute! I'd love for you to link up at Texas Monkey for All About You and show this off. http://texasmonkey.blogspot.com/2010/10/all-about-you-monday-link-up_25.html We have a party every Monday so would love for you to be a regular with all of your talent!

Wow, I love this wreath! You did a great job, and I know this one took a lot of work. We're featuring candy corn crafts on our blog this week, and I plan to link up to your Candy Corn Sunburst Wreath. Such an inspiration! Sharon, www.craftsncoffee.wordpress.com.

Wow! You are a genius! I am not a Halloween decorator anymore, but this has made me want to be again! So many possibilities with your technique - I'm surprised this is the first time I've seen it. So happy I found you through Crafts'nCoffee and that you are diligent enough "cover" yourself in your work!!

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